Rider Baseball opens the region with an additional victory in the innings

CONWAY, South Carolina – It wasn’t always the prettiest, but the Rider University baseball team made just enough well-timed plays to defeat the number-one and tenth-seeded Coastal Carolina 11-10 in 10 innings on Friday. evening. The Broncs improve to 36-19 this season, while the Chanticleers drop to 39-20.

The Broncs struggled early as the Chanticleers opened up a five-point lead, scoring one in the first, two in the fourth and two in the fifth.

Rider didn’t get their first hit of the game until the seventh, but once they did, the floodgates opened. Luke Lesch (Gloucester Twp., NJ/Gloucester Catholic) and Brendan O’Donnell (Malvern, PA/Great Valley) made back-to-back walks to open the inning. Socrates Bardatsos (Ridgefield, NJ / St. Joseph’s Regional) then opted to load the bases. Jack Winsett (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern Regional) got the Broncs on the board with a two-run single. After Coastal went to the bullpen, Jordan Erbe (Toms River, NJ/Toms River South[UMass]) and Erich Hartmann (Medford, NJ/Shawnee) had back-to-back doubles that tied the game 5-5. John Volpe (Sea Girt, NJ/Wall) then singled to put the runners into the corners with no outs. Scott Shaw (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill West) brought down a single down the middle to give Rider his first lead of the game. Brian Skettini (Midland Park, NJ/Ridgewood) followed with his own single that made it 7-5. With two out, Bardatsos tied on walks to charge the bases and Winsett threw a two-run single for the second time in the inning, giving Rider a 9-5 lead.

Coastal Carolina didn’t go easy, tying the game with a two-run homer in the seventh, an RBI single in the eighth and a sacrificial fly in the ninth.

The Broncs maintained their composure in the extra innings. Erbe started the tenth with a walk. Richie Sica (Wycoff, NJ/Ramapo) performed the sacrifice bunt to move Erbe into scoring position, where Volpe delivered a single to score Erbe. With two out, Skettini brought in a single down the middle to score Volpe and put Rider in the lead 11-9.

The Broncs allowed a run in the bottom of the tenth and loaded the bases with two outs. A shallow volley down the middle would have easily scored two runs to leave the game for the Chanticleers, but Sica snagged a dive for the final to secure the victory.

Quotes and Notes

“Hitting is contagious. We started swinging the bat to put things together. It’s one of those baseball things and we’ve been able to do it several times this year. The last game of the match was the best of the evening.”

“To beat a team of Coastal Carolina’s quality, I’m very proud to compete against such a well-trained team. You put your best guy in those situations. As a general rule, you are going to win or lose with your best guy.” – Head Coach Dr. Barry Davis

“At the start of the season the coach brought in all the seniors and said this is a team that can [set the program win record]. To get him today is incredible and his mission accomplished, but there is still a long way to go.”

“We can absolutely win a regional. We came here saying this team can win a regional. Just one step at a time, one game at a time, one pitch at a time, one takedown at a time.” – Graduate Pitcher Danny Kirwin

“As a team all year, we hit continuously. Once the first hit, the coach said the rest would come. We stuck to the plan and did not abandon ship.”

“We had a flashback. They played, ‘Pump it Up’. It’s the song they play at La. Tech when they hit a home run. They played it today in the ninth, and we all looked at each other and started laughing, because the last time we heard that song, we were losing 16-0. But it really prepared us to be in those places.” – Senior infielder John Volpe

– Frank Doelling (Riverside, NJ/Riverside [Rowan College at Burlington County]) started, going 3.2 innings and allowing three runs on five hits. He took out two.
–PJ Craig (Barnegat, NJ/Barnegat) pitched the next 2.1 innings, allowing two runs on three hits. He scratched one.
–Alec Sachais (Egg Harbor Twp., NJ/Holy Spirit) pitched 0.1 innings, allowing two runs on two hits. He scratched one.
–Danny Kirwin (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) pitched the final 3.2 innings, allowing three runs, two of which were earned, on four hits. He struck out three to claim the win.
– Volpe extended his goalscoring streak to 21 consecutive games.
– The victory is the first in the NCAA tournament since the 1987 season, when Rider won three games and was just one victory away from reaching the College World Series. The Broncs reached the College World Series in 1967.
– The win is Rider’s second on a ranked program this season after leading then no. 6/10 Duke.
– Rider ties the 2010 team with 36 wins, the most in program history.
– The Broncs are the fourth seed at four in the current regional format to score nine runs in one inning.

Broncs in numbers

– Seven different Rider players recorded success that day, led by three each from Volpe and Skettini.
– Six Broncs recorded RBIs with Winsett delivering four.
– Rider is now 3-1 in overtime games this season.

Following

The Broncs advance to the winners’ bracket and will now face second-seeded Duke at 6 p.m. Saturday, with the winner advancing to the regional final.